The gusty northwest wind that began yesterday is continuing today and bringing much colder air to the region as well as our first significant snowfall. It is lake enhanced snowfall coming off of Lake Superior. Some areas in the northwoods have reported anywhere from 1 to 3.5 inches this morning. The closer you get to Lake Superior the heavier amounts. An inch or so is possible as far south as Gleason and Antigo. Most of central Wisconsin will only experience scattered snow showers and flurries with little if any accumulation. A Snow Advisory is in effect for Vilas county through 1pm and for Iron and Ashland county until 7pm.
Here is a picture from Carol Seidel up in the Woodboro Township of Oneida county and a second picture from Wendy Ross in Boulder Junction: 
Other than the snow, the wind and the temperature make it feel a lot like winter. High temps will remain in the 30s with a wind chill in the 20s for today. Thankfully the blast of cold air will not last too long. There should be less wind tomorrow and high temps in the low 40s. On Wednesday we should have mostly sunny skies and high temps around 50. Thursday will be the warmest day of the week with a gusty southwest wind, plenty of sun, and high temps in the low 60s. On Friday, Halloween, it will be a little colder once again but not too bad. The high temp will be around 50 but if your trick-or-treating schedule is in the late afternoon temps will be quickly dropping into the 30s. Over the weekend we should have plenty of sunshine with high temps in the mid to upper 40s.
AGW News:
It is the topic that won’t stay off the headlines and it could get more interesting depending on who gets elected U.S. President next Tuesday. One aspect that I have mentioned before is the shifting terminology. I get a little skeptical when the headlines seem to be changing without a shift in the science behind the headlines. For almost 20 years, the problem was "global warming", and if you want to be even more accurate you would call it "anthropogenic global warming" (AGW). I have tried to spread this terminology to mainstream media sources but they continue to use the less accurate "global warming" and the misleading term "climate change". As you know, I am all for conservation and alternative energy. I practice what I preach. However, I do get skeptical of the motivation of some of the scientists and media outlets when they use "climate change" instead of AGW. After all, the problem, as we are told, is human caused climate change, not "climate change" in general. I guess on the most basic level "climate change" will always force humans and life on this planet to adjust and cope, but that is not what has been in the headlines for nearly 20 years. The drill has been "global warming"= "climate change"=AGW=the end of the world. Call me skeptical, but I think the headlines have shifted dramatically over the last year (to "climate change") in response to the fact that the earth hasn’t warmed one degree since 1998. In fact, the average global temperature has gone down slightly. I suppose it might start to sound silly saying "global warming" when the globe hasn’t warmed for 10 years. If the AGW theorists are confident in the global climate model predictions of environmental armageddon, then they should not be afraid to continue using the term "global warming" or more accurately AGW.
Here is one of the "climate change" headlines and it has an interesting twist. Researchers have found that some forests have done well during the warm-up over the last century. There is also word of some other gasses that will come under regulation. NF3 is more potent of a greenhouse gas than CO2 and is used in electronics manufacturing. Levels have grown in recent years and might continue to do so in the near future.
The talk about environmental destruction because of AGW invariably leads to talk about how to stop it and the main plan of attack is to restrict the use of fossil fuels. Here is an article predicting a path to eliminate fossil fuels by 2090. I have got news for these prognosticators – the world only has enough oil to last about another 30 years – using it at current rates. Of course, coal could last for much longer, but there is a possibility we could use coal without releasing the evil CO2. These three articles (1, 2, and 3) show some promise in converting or storing CO2 produced by energy plants or heavy manufacturing industries. Besides these factors there is also technological progress to consider. This prediction is based on linear advancement in technology (at best). What is more likely is that by the 2020s we will have significantly more powerful technology to develop energy sources we cannot even dream about today. I can’t even imagine what it will be like in 2090. So I am basically throwing this forecast out. It isn’t a realistic path for the future. Besides, there are much greater problems facing humanity than global warming. Which brings me to one caveat about future predictions. I suppose there is a slight chance we could enter a new "dark age" dominated by tyranny and less progress and that would certainly change future energy predictions.
Have a super Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew
Posted under Uncategorized
This post was written by jloew on October 27, 2008
Global warming and climate change is a scam What should we do? We should throw anybody who even mentions the words global warming and climate change in jail along with all the rest of the scam artist, con men, and child molesters.
The biggest danger facing humanity right now is the development of global government, run by and for the global elite. Global warming is being used as a way of scaring the people into accepting global controls, global enforcement, and global governance.
If we know that our national government is being controlled by a small ruling class elite, what would make anyone think that a global government would be any less controlled and manipulated by a powerful few? We need to decentralize our political and economic systems. Communities will find the energy solutions that work best for them.
I am building on a new website:
http://www.snow-blower-guide.com
Come on people, a little dusting of snow and the streets and cars are chalk white already! I moved here from the Colorado rockies and we had plenty of snow and ice and sand worked just fine for us. and come February they’ll be crying that their out of salt. And where are the enviromentalists and tree huggers at? I mean really, millions of tons of salt dumped into our soil and water, and what about all that contaminated snow trucked out of town, where does it get dumped, how about the Wisconsin river!!! I can’t believe that we are still useing such a corrosive and destructive thing as salt, in front of everyone and know one says a word. And if your not concerned with the enviromental disaster that this is creating then what about the second most expensive purchase for many people getting destroyed. Thats right your cars. When I moved here I thought that many of the people living here were income challenged with all the rusty cars runnin around, of course I know better now. This is crazy..